The Musician And The Warlock
by iwantachocolatecookie
Summary: Modern day!Au Merthur Arthur works at a music store and Merlin has just moved they meet when Merlin is lost and Arthur offers to lead the way not knowing of this stranger's secret. Love begins to grow but doesn't it turn too hard to hide who you really are from the people you most love? Merlin is going to learn that the hard way. It won't have smut unless someone offers to write it
1. The Music Store

Arthur kept adjusting his guitar as it kept sliding down his shoulder, because of the absurd amount of clothes he was wearing.

It was a particularly cold day in the little town of Camelot. All the trees were naked of leaves and there wasn't a soul outside. Only a few shoppers preparing for the day.

Arthur was the president's son but he wasn't a very political person he would like to make Camelot a more liberal place but music was more interesting to him.

He pedalled down the street heading to his tiny music store. He had opened it the year before, it was the only music store in Camelot because most people there only really cared about typical small town hobbies like sewing, agriculture and watching people pass by. No one really did anything that the younger generations liked. That's why Arthur decided to open the music store. He didn't have a lot of costumers but he had regulars and a few kids he taught how to play guitar or piano.

Arthur tightened his grip on the brakes and his bike's wheels squeaked against the ground stopping just before he hit the wall. He opened his bag and looked for the chain. He locked his bike to a post and rested it against the wall reaching down to his pocket looking for the key to open the door.

The inside was dark because the windows were all still closed but as soon as he slammed on the light switch the store became alive all the neon lights he had collected the years he went to university started blinking and the tiny gadget on top of his door sang "customeeer!" He sighed with content opening the store always made him feel happy and excited for the day. He opened the blinds and just stood there watching the little boys and girls playing knights with sticks before going to school. He smiled he remembered being the one playing like that with Leon, Elyan and the other guys.

He took off two of his coats as the heating started working and sat on the old armchair in the corner of the room legs over the armrest and looking upside down at the door grabbing his guitar. He strummed happily waiting for the customers to come get new guitar picks or strings. He loved working in his little store it was so peaceful unless Gwaine decided to visit and play "hard metal". He was actually just slamming the drum sticks on the drums, screaming on top of his lungs and head banging. His friend was a bit too much sometimes but he loved him anyway but at this time of the morning when Gwaine was still probably sprawled on his bed snoring like a pig he could just enjoy the soft happy music he could played.

"Customeeer!" His door sang again making Arthur shift his focus from his guitar to the door. In front of him a dark haired skinny boy stood on the door with his head leaning to the side with a confused look on his face as he alterned from looking at him and to the top of his door

"Hi" the boy finally said breathless, now that Arthur was standing the right way up he could see his costumer looked like he had been running or at least had walked a long way. His hair was all messy and his boot brown with mud. He carried a huge backpack with a sleeping mat on top.

"Good morning" Arthur greeted setting down his guitar on the armchair "Can I help you?" He questioned looking at the stranger

"Hum, maybe, do you happen to know a man named Gaius?" He asked stretching his back a bit, probably sore from the weight of his huge bag.

"The doctor? Yeah, he's the only doctor in town. I'm guessing you're the apprentice he has been talking about for a few days now" Arthur wondered moving to help the boy with his bag.

"Yeah, you could say that. Can you tell me where he lives?" The dark haired boy asked as he shrugged happily thankful for getting rid of the weight of his belongings for a while "thank you"

"You're welcome and yeah I'll take you there if you want" Arthur smiled politely, he tried to be nice with people he wasn't close with him since Gwaine kicked him in his manly parts for being an "egocentric arrogant dick" when they met. Let's just say they weren't the best of friends in the beginning.

"No it's okay you're working, just tell me where he lives and I'll find my way" The boy insisted

Arthur looked around playfully.

"I don't see any costumers, do you?" One of the sides of his full lips turned up making a light blush appear on the other boy's cheeks as he smiled back shyly.

"Not now, but someone might appear" he said a bit more quiet than before making Arthur smile.

"Probably not, most of my clients are students so they only appear at the end of the day or during lunch break, mornings are usually quiet." Arthur explained hoping to spend a little more time with this stranger with eyes that looked like ice.

"Okay, fine" the boy sighed playfully defeated. "Can you at least tell me your name though?" He smiled his eyes shining a bit brighter.

"I'm Arthur, Arthur Pendragon." He grinned with the excitement.

"Merlin "Emrys"" The boy, Merlin, said

"Emrys?" Arthur asked confused.

"It's not really my name my last name is Balinor but I don't really use it and a lot of people know me as Emrys." Merlin explained.

"Ah okay, Merlin _Emrys _Balinor" Arthur chuckled making Merlin blush again.


	2. Gaius, The Doctor

Hope you guys are enjoying this fic, It's a bit of a therapeutic thing because i need to learn to stop giving up on things so if I stop writing for more than a month without a proper excuse you're free to "shout" at me.

And if you want a map of how I imagine Camelot you're free to ask for that too.

Arthur put on his coats, mentally preparing himself for the cold he was about to face once again.

He held out Merlin's backpack to the other boy heping him put it on his back. He might be trying to be nice but he wasn't going to carry someone else's stuff.

"Ready?" He asked, Merlin groaned as the weight of the bag fell on his shoulders.

"Almost, just give me a second" The boy reached into his pocket and put on a pair of thick wool gloves as Arthur laughed at how the boy almost disappeared inside his clothes, you could see he wasn't used to this much cold "Okay we can go" Merlin sighed with content from the warmth.

They stepped into the freezing breeze, both of their noses turning red, Arthur locked the store's door behind them, not that it was necessary since there weren't many criminals because everyone knew each other, but still, better safe than sorry.

"So, what brings you to Camelot?" Arthur wondered aloud, looking at Merlin from the corner of his eyes.

"I didn't fit in in my town anymore, I only had one friend, he was my best friend since we were kids, but we both understood that the safest thing to do was for me to leave Ealdor, that's where I used to live. Merlin explained looking straight foward and shifting a bit under is huge bag.

"Ah okay" Arthur nodded, he understood it was a sensitive topic for now, he'd try again if they ever became closer. "But still, why Camelot?" he insisted, he didn't understand why someone would choose Camelot for a place to fit in, everyone was so close-minded.

"My mom knows Gaius, she used to live here before she moved to Ealdor when she met my dad. As she didn't want me to live alone she decided to send me here to live with Gaius" Merlin looked over to Arthur who was looking back at him, listening to his every word.

"Makes sense" Arthur hummed in agreement.

They turned left on a narrow street where two women were talking from one side to another on the windows above them.

Arthur loudly knocked on the wooden door at the end of the street. They heard a loud groan and someone getting closer to the door.

"Hello?" Gaius asked looking from Arthur to the unknown boy with confusion.

"Hi, I'm Merlin" the boy explained cheerfully.

"But you weren't supposed to come until Wednesday" Gaius said nervously.

"Hum, it is Wednesday..." Merlin looked at Arthur looking for an explanation, maybe the man didn't have all the cards.

"Oh...yeah... come in then" Gaius smiled stepping aside so both boys could enter his house "Arthur, can you please take Gwaine home?" Gaius ordered sounding annoyed "he got drunk last night and now he's hungover, I gave him aspirin and lots of water, I can't do anything else"

"Yeah, of course, come on you idiot!" Arthur shouted in his friend's ear making the boy curl up, butt sticking up in the air. He helped the boy up, slapping his ass in the process, Arthur threw Gwaine's arm around his shoulders, helping him rise from the couch and guiding him to the door. "Thanks, Gaius, and see you around, Merlin." He winked, smiling at the boy and closing the door behind them.

"So, boy, your room is up those stairs" Gaius told the flustered boy, pointing at the small old door. "You can leave your things there, settle in, I'll let you be for now. I need to sleep, I couldn't even blink with that unresponsible idiot in my house" Gaius huffed annoyed.

"Okay, thank you, sir" Merlin smiled politely and started dragging his feet up the stairs, dying to lay a bit and maybe take a nap.

Merlin looked around the small room, smiling, finally he got to have his new start.

He finally got to get rid of the weight on his back, sighing tiredly, he fell back on the bed staring at the ceiling, he had been dreaming of the moment he could get out of Ealdor. It had become hard living there, too many people knew about his magic, they either hated him or kept asking him for favours. He didn't feel neither comfortable, nor accepted anymore. He just wanted everyone to be like Will know about it but not make a fuss about it everytime they saw him using it, but he knew that would never happen. So he took the best way out not the easiest since he'd no longer see his best friend everyday but definitely the safest.

Besides from what he had seen already, the guys sure were cute in Camelot and who was he to complain, he chuckled quietly, and thinking of blond hair and sky blue eyes, he fell asleep.

Sorry if it's too short I want to post as frequently as possible instead of a lot at once so it's easier for me to get used to posting them. Anyway, thanks for reading :)


	3. Camelot

Merlin woke up 5 hours later his stomach rumbling, he hadn't eaten since the apple he had for dinner the night before. He got up stretching his back raising his arms in the air. He went down the small flight of stairs, and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

He got out of the bathroom, already dressed, hoping that Gaius was awake, he didn't want to bother the older man. Unfortunately, for him, Gaius had other plans, and was laying on his small bed, arms all over and mouth slightly open, fast asleep. Merlin sighed in frustration. He looked around helplessly spotting a little notebook stuck to the fridge, and a pencil next to it. He quickly wrote "Going out for food didn't want to wake you up", and then carefully put the small page inside Gaius' hand.

He left the small house, tripping on his way out, as usual.

He tried to remember where they had come from looking around the narrow streets, since he had arrived in Camelot he had noticed how much people here were proud of their town most houses were red with bits of gold either on the windows or around the doors.

It was almost 1pm, he was hoping that Arthur would be near his lunch break so they could go eat together. It didn't take him long to find the small park in front of Arthur's small store he opened the park's little gate he could already hear the screams of the children playing in the playground in the center of the park and as he reached them, he watched as the mothers sat on the benches sewing and gossiping while keeping an eye on their loud children. He heard the loud sound of drums as soon as he closed the gate on the other side. He followed it, a place as small as Camelot couldn't have more than one music store.

He recognised the door as soon as he saw it and as he went to open it he heard a scream, but as he tried to move away he tripped on his own feet falling butt first on the ground and the little kid that he tried to avoid shouted "sorry" over his shoulder as he jumped over the park's green gate.

Merlin groaned in pain, only now realising how much he actually felt it. Why wasn't the ground more soft? That was a question little Merlin had been asking since the day he was born and had slipped out of the nurse's hands.

"What are you doing on the ground?" Arthur asked between laughs.

What do you think? I'm obviously checking for woodworm on your door. He pressed his ear to the door and started knocking on it "Nope it's clean" he concluded.

Arthur laughed.

"Shut up, Merlin. I'm starting to realize you're really clumsy, and that, my friend, makes me very happy" Arthur smirked mischievously.

"I'm staring to realize you're a prat" Merlin responded annoyed as he grabbed Arthur's hand accepting his help. "Thanks" he mumbled.

Both boys went in the store both cringing at the Gwaine who was "playing" the drums.

"Gwaine! Gwaaine!" Arthur tried to shout over the noise but to no avail, but then he got an idea, there was something Gwaine never ignored no matter how much noise there was and how apparently impossible it would be for him to hear it. "Hot guys say whaat?" He shouted laughing.

Suddenly Gwaine stopped slamming on the drums and shouted back

"Whaat!" Merlin burst out laughing as soon as he said it.

"Woah, that's an ego" He laughed.

"I know I still don't understand how he does it" Arthur agreed chuckling

"Hey shut up if you were as hot as this" he motioned to his body with the drum sticks. "You would understand"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Arthur dismissed him.

The few kids that were in the shop started running out as soon as they heard the bell in the distance, they probably had to go to school.

"So, can we go have lunch please?" Gwaine asked rubbing his belly, which protested.

"Yeah, sure" Arthur nodded "go wait for me outside I'll be there in a few seconds.

As Gwaine and Merlin slowly made their way outside, Arthur turned off the lights and locked the cash register.

He joined the others outside and they made their way through the park again. This time though the small playground was empty, the mums probably had to go cook and feed their children.

"So" Gwaine smirked "anyone special?" He asked as Merlin blushed.

"Gwaine!" Arthur shouted, silently begging Gwaine to shut up

"It's okay" Merlin laughed "and no, I've actually never had a crush on anyone" he answered smiling.

"Oh, that's a shame" Gwaine's shoulders slumped, as soon as it did he straightened his back again and a huge smirk appeared on his face, actually scaring the other two boys "Oh but you know here Arthur" he slapped the boy's back and let his hand rest there.

"No" Arthur whispered and his eyes widened.

"He has had quite a few crushes, you see?" Gwaine continued.

"Gwaine, please, shut up" Arthur hissed through his teeth.

"Like for example..." He was interrupted by Arthur's fist colliding with his stomach making the brown haired boy curled up in pain, but he was still laughing.

Merlin laughed at the two boys' friendship, as they arrived at the small restaurant on the other side of the park. There was a group of people their age, sitting on one of the tables outside.

"Hey, guys" Gwaine shouted, running to the table and sitting on the only empty chair. Merlin and Arthur slowly following behind him.

"Hey" a dark girl said looking around at Arthur and Merlin. "New friend?" She winked at Arthur.

"I'm Merlin" The boy smiled not realising what she meant

"I'm Gwen, this is Lancelot, Percival, Morgana, Leon and my brother Elyan" each person waved and greeted Merlin, as Gwen said their name

"Nice to meet you, guys" Merlin smiled at everyone.

"You know, you seemed way more shy when we met this morning" Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know what you are talking about" Merlin dismissed him pulling a chair to the table. Arthur smirked, pulling a chair for himself and joining everyone else.


	4. Killy's

"The usual?" A man asked. He had dark hair and beard with a few greys. He was wearing a white button down shirt with the name of the restaurant, Killy's, in gold and a dark red apron, in his hands he had a small notebook and a pen.

"Yeah" Everyone, except Merlin, agreed nodding.

"What about you, boy?" He turned to the skinny boy "I haven't seen you before, have I?"

"Probably not. I just moved from Ealdor" He explained "It's a small town a bit sou…" "I know where it is." The man interrupted his eyes watering a bit, but as soon as they did the man quickly sniffed and recomposed himself "Anyway, what do you want?"  
>"The same as them I guess" Merlin shrugged gesturing to the guys.<p>

"Ohoo, I don't know if you can take it" Gwaine interrupted laughing.

"Yeah, Merlin you look too small for it" Elyan added him too laughing.

"Hey, shut up I'm probably taller than you!" Merlin protested trying to save his pride.

"Maybe, but you don't have these guns" Gwaine smirked squeezing Percival's arms.

"Hey, boys, shut up. Leave him alone" Gwen shouted over everyone's laughs. Merlin nodded finally feeling like someone was on his side. "Besides if he needs he can take the rest home for dinner" She giggled making Merlin groan, giving up he just crossed his arms over his chest and pouted staring at the red tabletop.

The man from the restaurant chuckled too going inside to take their orders.

"Seriously though, shut up" Morgana interrupted. She wanted to try and make the new guy feel welcome "So Merlin what brings you to Camelot?" She asked smiling at him. The other guys were all now talking about fencing or something. Only Arthur and Gwen were listening to them.

"I've explained it to Arthur, I was living in Ealdor as I said before but things got complicated so I had to move. My mum knew Gaius and she used to live here so she though Camelot was the best place for me to go." Merlin explained, as Morgana and Gwen nodded in understanding.

"So, you're staying with Gaius?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, I just met him this morning he looked like a nice guy, a bit on the crazy side though." Merlin smiled, a question in his eyes as if asking for someone to reassure him Gaius wasn't crazy.

"Nah" you could see Merlin sighing in relief as Arthur said it "That was just because Gwaine, the idiot, drank too much yesterday so he didn't let him sleep. He'll probably feel better later" He chuckled at the relief on Merlin's face.

"So, Merlin, what do you like to do?" Gwen asked as he sipped on the glass of water the man had brought.  
>The man's eyes looked at him as if he wanted to ask something but probably decided against it as he went back inside.<p>

"I don't know, I like reading a lot, and when I was younger my best friend and I used to prank people a lot. It was him that planned it all but I was always the one that had to do everything else" he smiled sadly remembering Will, he was hoping as soon as he got used to living here, he could invite him to visit, so he could show him Camelot.

"That sounds awesome" Arthur chuckled, imagining little Merlin with huge ears stumbling around as he tried to make his best friend's plans work.

"Do you miss him?" Gwen asked looking at him sadly.

"Yeah, his name is Will, he didn't want me to move but we knew it was for the best, besides he can visit whenever he wants" Merlin tried to reassure himself.

He knew it would be hard, not seeing Will everyday, but it was better than being used and hurt, like he used to be.

"Here you go" the man announced as he distributed their food.

Merlin's eyes widened, and suddenly he was not hungry anymore. In front of him was the biggest piece of meat he had ever seen with an incredibly ridiculous amount of rice and fries.

"Not so big now, are we?" Lancelot laughed as Merlin tried to hide how he really felt about his order.

"This is nothing" He shot back, sounding way too confident.

He gulped and made his best to finish it.

* * *

><p>"You actually did it" Gwaine laughed historically has he looked at their new friend's empty plate.<p>

Merlin nodded looking like he was about to pass out.

"Let's make it your usual?" Percival provoked, already knowing what Merlin's reaction would be.

"No it's okay, I'll be fine with half from now on" He laughed nervously, fear in his eyes.

"I have to go back to the store, guys" Arthur interrupted looking at his watch "I'm already 15 minutes late, guitars don't sell themselves you know?" He answered Gwaine who was asking why he couldn't stay a little longer.

"Can I go with you?" Merlin asked scared they would make him eat desert.

"Yeah, of course" He said going inside to pay for his and Merlin's meals while Merlin said goodbye to everyone, kissing the girls' cheeks and shaking the guys' hands who laughed at his face when they squeezed his hand a little too hard.

Merlin and Arthur made their way back to the store in silence, thankfully not awkward, after Merlin thanked him for paying.

As they got to the store Merlin fell on the old armchair feeling heavy, he shouldn't have eaten the whole thing but his honor was at stake.

"Merlin, can you help me with these?" Arthur called from the room at the other end of the store.

As he went to check on his friend he saw him curled up on the armchair his hands under his head. If it had been Gwaine he would just have dumped a glass of cold water on him, but he didn't know how the sleeping boy would react, so he just covered him with a small warm blanket he had under the counter. It was warmer than it had been in the morning but he still thought Merlin would be thankful.

Arthur looked at Merlin as he slept, he looked so adorable and peaceful, plump lips slightly parted, and dark eyelashes resting on his cheeks. He feared what this boy was starting to make him feel.


	5. An unexpected family reunion

Merlin woke up half an hour later, curled up under the blue blanket.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty " Arthur laughed at the other boy's confused face.

"Why do I have a blanket?" Merlin mumbled, turning around to look at Arthur.

"Because it's cold" Arthur chuckled confused.

"Oh, where did it come from?" Merlin asked trying to completely cover his body.

"Magic. Where do you think?" He laughed.

"What do you mean magic?" Merlin asked wide eyed.

"I mean the magical place under my cash register. Merlin, you do know magic doesn't exist, right?" Arthur chuckled looking at Merlin like he was crazy, not noticing his friend's sad sigh.

" Haha. Very funny, I know it doesn't" Merlin covered, hiding the sadness he felt "Why do you have a blanket under there?"

"It's for the winter, it usually gets really cold around here." He explained, groaning as he crouched to pick up a bunch of guitar picks he had just knocked over the counter with his elbow.

"No, it's not. It's for when his dates kick him out of the house because of his tiny..." Gwaine was interrupted by the empty guitar pick bowl that went flying across the shop.

"Shut up, Gwaine!" Arthur yelled to the boy who had just made the door shout "costumeeer".

Merlin was giggling in the corner of the store, still hiding under the blanket.

"You shut up too!" Arthur spun around, pointing an accusatory finger at Merlin.

"We just met this morning and you're already being rude?" The boy shook his head in mock disappointment.

" You call that being rude? You should have seen him on the first day we met, he treated me like he was a prince and I a mere peasant" Gwaine added, making Merlin open his mouth dramatically.

"Arthur, I was right, you really are a prat." Merlin pretended to hold back tears.

"Shut up, both of you." Arthur complained, pouting almost unnoticeably.

"Oh no, Merlin we made the prince sad" Gwaine shouted dramatically running to hug Arthur around the stomach "I'm sorry your highness. I never meant to hurt your feelings."

"Let go of me, you idiot" Arthur struggled trying to push him away.

"I'd go hug him too but I don't want to freeze because of his cold heart." Merlin laughed, but was attacked by Arthur, who still had Gwaine attached to him, jumping on top of him and pressing his chest to his face.

"Freeze! Freeze!" Arthur shouted as Gwaine petted him and Merlin screamed.

The three boys were still on top of the armchair fighting, when the door shouted "costumeeer" but they were being to loud.

After a few minutes though, someone cleared their throat loudly, making the three boys look up startled.

"What the hell are you doing?" The man from the restaurant asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Fighting" Gwaine explained, his hand still resting on the other boy's stomach.

"And screaming?" The man added.

"That was Merlin, he sounds like a scared girl."

"Well, ookay then" the man gave up, turning to look at Merlin. "Can I borrow him for a second?" He asked, looking nervous all of a sudden.

"Yeah, sure. I'm coming, just wait a second" Merlin nodded curious as he pushed the other boys off of him and following the older man.

"Hum...I don't know where to start" The man said looking anywhere but Merlin nervously and scratching his beard.

"Maybe you could start by telling me your name?" Merlin smiled reassuringly. He was so confused, why did thi sman want to talk to him if they didn't even know each other.

"Oh yeah right" He chuckled nervously "I'm Balinor, i'm sorry but I overheard you talking at the restaurant and you said you were from Ealdor?"

"Yeah, I lived with my mum, why?" Merlin confirmed.

"I've lived there a few years ago, 23 to be exact." Balinor sighed, smiling at the memory. "I fell in love there you know?" Merlin smiled looking at the man's dreamy expression. "Hunith, was her name" Merlin gasped, choking on his own spit "you know her?" The man asked hopeful.

" She...she's my mother" Merlin stuttered making the man's eyes widen.

"Oh, she married then" The man sighed sadly "I'm happy for her...I mean I've always dreamt of going..."

"I don't know my father" Merlin interrupted him "she never married." He explained.

"Oh...may I...may I ask how old you are?" The man sighed nervously, scared of the answer. Now that he really looked at the boy he did look a bit like Hunith, her blue eyes and kind smile, but he also noticed his large ears, except his were hidden by his long hair, which was the darkest black like Merlin's.

"22" he said as he struggled to breath, tears starting to gather in his eyes.

"I don't know what it is to have a son." Balinor whispered weakly, he felt horrible knowing he had a son. He hadn't held him in his arms as he cried during the night, nor taught him how to ride a bike when he was 4 and helped him with his homework when he started school. All the things he always dreamt of all these years while working at the restaurant. Dreams of going back and falling for Hunith everyday once more, dreams of starting a family. And now he started to realize he could. Not in the way he dreamt, but here he was, his and Hunith's child, even if he wasn't a child anymore.

"Or I a father" Merlin finally said a tear going down his face as he couldn't hold any longer. He started crying hugging Balinor, his father. The person he had been asking about as soon as he was old enough to talk and go outside, wondering why everyone had a mother and a father and all he got was a mother, he loved his mom but had always dreamt of this moment. His mom had always told him his dad had to run away because bad people wanted to hurt him, he never really understood who the bad people were, but he knew why they wanted him, his magic.

"Am I interrupting something?" Arthur coughed awkwardly, not having a clue about what was happening.

"No, I was just about to leave" Balinor smiled looking at his son, he needed a moment this was too much at once. He had come here to know how Hunith was and left with a son. "I live above Killy's, go there around dinner time. Something tells me we have a lot to talk about." The man chuckled wiping his nose with his sleeve.

"Okay, I'll be there around 6" Merlin laughed, happy tears rolling down his face. "I'll bring my phone so we can call mom" he couldn't believe what was happening.

After all these years of feeling lonely, like he was the only kid who didn't have a father, he had finally found him, and he couldn't be happier.


	6. Hunith

Arthur held the door open for Merlin, who was crying to his sleeve, a smile on his face.

"What happened?" Gwaine asked looking worried, getting up from the armchair, so Merlin could sit.

"Nothing bad, I promise" He smiled, looking up at the two boys.

"Okay" Arthur said, worry still in his eyes.

Merlin walked through the park, his hands burried in his pockets, he was trying to stop them from shaking with the expectation and nervousness. His phone started ringing in his pants' back pocket, but he ignored it knowing it was his mother asking if he had arrived well and if he had liked his first day in a different town, he couldn't wait t otell her about his dad, but he was planning to call her when he got to Killy's.

He tripped twice in a row, almost smashing his face against a tree as he struggled to regain his balance. In his defense it was getting dark and there were thousands of tiny rocks scattered around the path. That and he was so nervous he wasn't paying much attention to his path but was thinking about what he was going to share with his father.

He finally reached the restaurant, tripping one last time on the welcome mat, before pulling the door open letting it close once he was inside.

Balinor looked up when he heard someone come in, from where he was setting a table, with a small smile and a few tears in the corner of his eyes.

"Hi" Merlin smiled brightly at the man, who quickly moved to hug his son again.

"Hey there, boy" He said in a weak voice, sounding like he was about to cry "Come on let's sit" the man said, guiding his son with an arm around his shoulders to one of the tables in the back, so they would have more privacy.

The two sat down in front of each other, Balinor explaining that he had left one of the new waiters in charge so wouldn't have to work that night.

"Can I ask you something?" Balinor asked looking nervous, a few seconds after one waitress took their order. "And please, if you don't tell anyone about it, this is something Uther can never find out." He said leaning foward so no one would listen.

"Yeah, of course" Merlin confirmed nodding his head.

"Do you have...do you have magic?" He finally got out looking around to check no one had heard, before looking back at Merlin expectantly.

Merlin didn't answer, he simply smiled whispering something his eyes turning gold. He opened his hand to show the man a picture of Merlin and his mother, the boy looked serious but Hunith had a soft smile in the background.

"Never do that again" the man warned "but thank you" he picked up the picture, softly caressing Hunith's face with his thumb "being able to do that here, in Camelot, isn't

A gift, son. Only older people know it exists, and if they see you using it they'll kill you. The younger ones think magic only belongs to stories, honestly I don't know how they would react if they found out it's real." He explained still looking at the photo "Uther had a bad experience with magic and instead of blaming the sorcerer, he blamed everyone involved in magic. Anyone he suspects to be magical is killed unless they manage to escape" he looked up at Merlin smiling with sad eyes.

"Why are you here then?" Merlin asked confused, it was probably safer in Ealdor, away from Uther.

"Uther saw me using magic in Ealdor, innocent playing with it. But Uther didn't see it like innocent. He tried to kill me but luckily I managed to get away without him seeing my face. Unfortunately it meant I could never go back to Ealdor because he could find me"

"But Camelot?" Merlin asked.

"It's the place he would never think I'd go" Balinor explained "I tried going to other places but they always found me so I decided to simply stop using magic and move here, and it has worked so far" he concluded, once again smiling with his lips but not with his eyes.

Merlin stared at him in silence not knowing what to say. He was sorry that his father had had such rough years, only to end up not being able to be himself.

"Can we call your mom now?" Balinor changed the subject, looking both nervous and excited.

"Okay, do you want me to talk first or do you want to answer?" Merlin asked eeaching down to his pants' back pocket and grabbing his phone. He looked for his mother's contact on the list and squealed a bit when he found it.

"You talk first" the man said quickly shaking from how nervous he was.

"Ready?" Merlin asked smiling at Balinor.

"Just do it" his dad sighed as if inhaling all the courage in the air.

Merlin tapped the little green phone on the screen and put it on speaker, only loud enough for both of them to hear. It beeped twice before she picked.

"Hello, sweetie. How's Camelot?" Hunith said softly, you could hear the smile on her voice at finally being able to talk to her son.

"Hey, mom. It's awesome, I've met some really nice and interesting people" He smiled at Balinor who was covering his mouth with his hands trying to be silent as he cried. He missed Hunith so much, now that he was finally listening to her he realized how much, the guilt of not having helped her raise their son and the sorry for having left without much warning only a quick kiss and a "I'm sorry but I have to go, I don't know when I'll be back or if I ever will be" and then leaving her 23 years without any kind of sign he was alive.

"Sounds nice" she said, happy her son was making friends besides Will. "Have you met Gaius? How's that old man?" She asked giggling at the memory of the man. Making Balinor laugh between loud sobs. Gaius had raised her as his daughter since she was 1 and able to stand.

"Yeah I went there before lunch to leave my things and rest a bit he looked nice, kind of crazy but Arthur told me he just didn't get enough sleep" Merlin explained looking at Balinor as if asking if he was ready to which Balinor nodded nervously.

"Yeah he was like that sometimes. Once he tried to..." she laughed.

"Mum" he interrupted her

"Is something wrong, sweetie?" She asked concerned.

"No, don't worry. I just found someone who wants to talk to you" Merlin said nervously not sure how his mother would react.

"What do you mean? Is Gaius there with you?" She asked excitedly.

"No, not Gaius" Merlin shook his head even though his mum couldn't see him "Bye, mum, something tells me you won't want talk to me after knowing who it is" He chuckled quietly.

"Is it someone famous or something? Is it Clooney? Merlin, answer me." She said using her most autoritary voice.

"Hi, Hunith" Balinor said sounding way more confident than he actually was.

"Balinor?" She whispered sounding hopeful, yet scared that her mind was playing tricks on her.

"Yes" the man murmured before breaking down. All he could do was cry and apologise for all the years he had disappeared and for not having helped with Merlin, even if it wasn't his fault he still felt guilty.

Merlin smiled as he saw that his parents had moved on from crying and whispering sorry's to catching up. He laughed along with Balinor. The man cried happy tears as Hunith told him about some of the most funny demonstrations of Merlin's clumsiness. Merlin felt like he couldn't be happier, but still dreamt of the day they would all actually be together.


End file.
